A bill in Congress would remove the 20% coinsurance Medicare patients currently pay for Chronic Care Management services. It's called the Chronic Care Management Improvement Act of 2026 (H.R. 8261). It is not law yet. It was introduced in the House on April 14, 2026, and if it passes, the copay would disappear for CCM services starting January 1, 2027.
This is worth watching if you or a parent has two or more ongoing conditions like diabetes, heart failure, COPD, or kidney disease.
What is Chronic Care Management?
Chronic Care Management is a Medicare service for people who have two or more chronic conditions expected to last at least a year. Your care team coordinates everything between visits: managing your medications, talking to your specialists, updating your care plan, and being reachable when something comes up. Medicare started paying clinicians for this work under its own billing code in 2015.
Most of this care happens by phone and behind the scenes, not in the exam room. That's the point. Someone is watching your conditions in the weeks between appointments instead of waiting for the next crisis.
If you have diabetes and high blood pressure and early kidney trouble, that's three moving parts, three sets of medications, and often three different doctors. CCM is the service that keeps them talking to each other.
How much does Chronic Care Management cost right now?
Right now, Medicare covers 80% of the cost of CCM, and you pay the remaining 20% as coinsurance. In practice that's usually about $10 to $15 a month, depending on the level of service and whether you have a supplement plan that picks up the difference.
That sounds small. For a lot of people on a fixed income, it isn't. A recurring monthly charge for a service you can't always see, since much of it happens by phone, is exactly the kind of bill people call about, question, or decide they don't want. The organizations backing this bill say that confusion and cost are a big reason most eligible people never sign up.
The numbers back that up. As of a 2022 federal analysis of 2019 Medicare claims, only about 4% of people who could have used CCM actually received it, roughly 882,000 out of about 22.5 million eligible. McDowell et al., ASPE, 2022
What would the Chronic Care Management Improvement Act actually change?
If H.R. 8261 becomes law, you would pay $0 out of pocket for CCM services furnished on or after January 1, 2027. The bill removes both the 20% coinsurance and the Part B deductible for these specific services. It does this by amending the part of Medicare law that sets cost-sharing (Section 1833 of the Social Security Act).
Here is the honest boundary, because it matters. The bill covers Chronic Care Management. It does not waive copays for every care coordination service Medicare offers. Programs like remote patient monitoring or behavioral health integration are separate, and this bill doesn't touch their cost-sharing. So the accurate way to think about it: if it passes, the CCM copay goes away. Care management as a whole doesn't suddenly become free.
| Today | If H.R. 8261 becomes law (Jan 1, 2027) | |
|---|---|---|
| Your CCM copay | About 20%, often $10 to $15/month | $0 |
| Part B deductible on CCM | Applies | Waived |
| Who pays the rest | You plus Medicare | Medicare |
| Other services (RPM, etc.) | Unchanged | Unchanged |
Is this bill likely to pass?
It is too early to say, and that's the truthful answer. A bill being introduced is the first step in a long process. It has to clear committees, pass the full House and Senate in identical form, and be signed by the President before anything changes. Many bills never make it that far.
What's notable here is the support. The bill is led by Representatives Suzan DelBene (D-Washington) and Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania), so it has backing from both parties. And more than 40 national health groups signed a letter endorsing it, including AARP, the American Medical Association, the Alzheimer's Association, and the American Diabetes Association. AAMC, 2026 That doesn't guarantee passage. It does mean this is a serious effort, not a long shot nobody is paying attention to.
We're following it. If it moves, we'll update this page.
What should I do right now?
Nothing about this bill requires action from you today. But it's a good reason to ask whether Chronic Care Management makes sense for your situation in the first place, copay or not. Many people who qualify have never been told the service exists.
If you have two or more chronic conditions and feel like nobody is connecting the dots between your doctors, that's the gap CCM is built to close.
Frequently asked questions
Has the Chronic Care Management Improvement Act passed?
No. It was introduced in the U.S. House on April 14, 2026, and is still in the early committee stage. It is not law, and your current Medicare coverage and any copays have not changed.
When would the copay go away if the bill passes?
The bill applies to CCM services furnished on or after January 1, 2027. That date only takes effect if the bill is signed into law before then.
Will this make all my care management free?
No. The bill removes cost-sharing for Chronic Care Management specifically. Other Medicare services, including other care coordination programs, are not covered by this bill.
Do I have to do anything to get the lower cost?
No. If the bill becomes law, the copay change would apply automatically to CCM services. There's nothing to sign up for related to the bill itself.
Who can get Chronic Care Management?
Medicare beneficiaries with two or more chronic conditions expected to last at least 12 months. Talk with your clinician about whether you qualify.
The bottom line
A bipartisan bill could erase the 20% copay for Chronic Care Management in 2027. It isn't law yet, and it may never be, so don't change anything based on it. But it's a good prompt to ask a question worth asking anyway: if you or someone you care for is juggling several conditions and it feels like a lot to manage alone, is Chronic Care Management a fit? If you're a patient of Mobile Health Providers, reach out and we'll walk you through it.
Dr. Wyzscx Patacxil, MD, CWSP
Dr. Patacxil is the physician-owner of Mobile Health Providers, a house-call primary care and advanced wound care practice serving patients across San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, and Orange counties. He treats homebound and mobility-limited Medicare beneficiaries in their homes, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living communities. His clinical focus includes chronic wound management, chronic care management, and preventive medicine. He writes about wound care, aging, health technology, and what modern house-call medicine actually looks like.
Read more about Dr. Patacxil →About this article
This article is for general education and is not medical advice. Reading it does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Talk with a qualified clinician about your specific situation.
This article describes proposed federal legislation that has not been enacted. It is not legal or policy advice, and the bill's provisions may change or fail to become law. Nothing here should be read as a promise of future coverage or cost.
Mobile Health Providers is an independent medical practice. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by Medicare or CMS. Coverage for any service depends on a patient's eligibility and medical necessity.
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